Key Measures Show Inflation increased YoY in July

by Bill McBride on 8/10/2018 11:11:00 AM

The Cleveland Fed released the median CPI and the trimmed-mean CPI this morning:

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, the median Consumer Price Index rose 0.2% (2.7% annualized rate) in July. The 16% trimmed-mean Consumer Price Index also rose 0.2% (2.3% annualized rate) during the month. The median CPI and 16% trimmed-mean CPI are measures of core inflation calculated by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland based on data released in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) monthly CPI report.

Note: The Cleveland Fed released the median CPI details for July here.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the year-over-year change for these four key measures of inflation. On a year-over-year basis, the median CPI rose 2.8%, the trimmed-mean CPI rose 2.2%, and the CPI less food and energy rose 2.4%. Core PCE is for June and increased 1.9% year-over-year.

On a monthly basis, median CPI was at 2.7% annualized, trimmed-mean CPI was at 2.3% annualized, and core CPI was at 3.0% annualized.

Using these measures, inflation increased year-over-year in July. Overall, these measures are mostly above the Fed’s 2% target (Core PCE is close).